Jail term ‘manifestly inadequate’

By Elizabeth Byrne

Updated August 04, 2012 10:53:23

The ACT Court of Appeal has been told a jail sentence imposed on a man found guilty of sexual assault is manifestly inadequate.

The ACT’s Director of Public Prosecutions Jon White is challenging a sentence imposed on Craig Paul Meyboom, 36, particularly in relation to two counts of sexual assault against a woman he attacked in April 2006.

Meyboom was also sentenced for two assaults and three acts of indecency on other victims.

The court heard in one instance he grabbed a girl by the neck and told her to tell her friend to leave or he would kill her.

Mr White told the court the five year sentence imposed for the sexual assault of another victim was inadequate given the maximum term of 12 years.

Mr White has told the ACT Court of Appeal the sexual assault was a case of a stranger rape of a vulnerable victim in appalling circumstances.

But Meyboom’s barrister Shane Gill has told the court a review of similar cases shows there is no inadequacy in the sentence.

On the current sentence Meyboom will be eligible for parole in November.

Chief Justice Helen Murrell sentenced Philpot to 19 months in jail, but released him on a two-and-a-half-year recognisance release order, which imposes conditions such as good behaviour, counselling for up to two years and supervision by the ACT Corrections Directorate for two years.

Former NSW school principal pleads guilty to accessing child pornography

By Elizabeth Byrne

Thu 27 Nov 2014, 5:04pm

A former New South Wales primary school principal will be sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court after pleading guilty to a charge of accessing child pornography.

Michael Philpot, 58, had been principal of a school in the NSW town of Young.

He was arrested last year after his employer found sexually explicit text messages and photos on his work phone.

Court documents reveal Philpot had made contact with a 13 or 14-year-old Canberra boy on an app called Grindr, before the pair communicated by phone sharing explicit conversations by text, and sending each other inappropriate images.

He has been charged with using a carriage service to access child pornography.

A Canberra man currently imprisoned for the abuse of an 11-year-old boy has had his sentence extended by more than two years for abusing his nephew in the early 1990s.

The ACT Supreme Court has heard Willem Scheeren, 59, was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2014 for sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy in the 1980s.

While in custody last year, he was charged with committing acts of indecency, attempting to engage in sexual intercourse and engaging in sexual intercourse with his 15-year-old nephew over two separate incidents between 1991 and 1992.

The court heard Scheeren had assaulted his nephew on multiple occasions when they were alone together, but the charges related only to incidents his nephew could particularise.

Scheeren pleaded guilty to all charges.

In sentencing, Justice John Burns said there was evidence Scheeren had “gained considerable insight” into his offences in the 24 years since they occurred.

Justice Burns told the court a pre-sentence report on Scheeren had revealed he had been sexually abused as a child and as a result had developed a warped sense of sexual relationships and interaction.

One doctor who saw Scheeren said he believed his “personality has been retarded by his early circumstances”.

Justice Burns said he accepted the offences “involved a breach of trust”.

He also noted that Scheeren had made contact with his nephew to apologise and acknowledge what he had done.

Scheeren was sentenced to an aggregate of two years and nine months for the four charges.

Combined with the sentence handed down by Chief Justice Helen Murrell in 2014, Scheeren was sentenced to a total of 10 years in jail.

Scheeren’s non-parole period has also been extended from June 2017 to September 2019.

Ajitpal Singh has had his sentence cut on appeal. The ACT Court of Appeal resentenced Singh to 8 & 1/2 years’ jail, with a non-parole period of 5 years. He will be eligible for release in October 2018.

UPDATE: AUGUST 2015

Adjitpal Singh is appealing his sentence as he feels it is too harsh & was much more severely punished than his co-accused.

Convicted paedophile Navin Edwin has sentenced reduced by ACT court

An Indian national convicted of child sexual offences has had his 10-year jail sentence reduced by the ACT Court of Appeal.

Navin Edwin, 35, was convicted of 17 charges during two trials last year and sentenced to almost 11 years jail.

More than half the offences involved a six- or seven-year-old girl.

The offences included grooming, acts of indecency and production of child pornography.

Edwin also sent a naked image of himself to one victim.

In sentencing, Justice John Burns told Edwin he was a shameless liar who had shown no remorse.

Today the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to six and a half years because of errors to do with the overlap of Territory and Commonwealth law and Justice Burns mistaking the maximum penalty on several offences.

Because Edwin has already served four years in jail he will be eligible for parole just before December 2015.